Food & Wine

Maggie Beer shares her secret to perfect poached eggs

Since Australians began staying inside amid the coronavirus pandemic, Maggie Beer has shared her cooking wisdoms from her Barossa Valley kitchen through a new video series titled Cooking with Maggie.

Now the celebrity chef and cookbook author has revealed the secret to perfect poached eggs.

Beer explained that fresh eggs will hold its shape better when being poached, while older egg whites tend to be runny.

When using an old egg, Beer recommended cracking it on a strainer to remove some of the liquid so that the poached version will be free from frills and “have a tighter shape”.

She added, “It’s always easier when you’re poaching an egg to actually put it in a little container … so you’re not breaking the egg into the swirling water.”

She also advised against using salt and vinegar.

“There’s no point in using salt, you don’t need to use salt,” she said. “Nor do you need to use vinegar. Vinegar will help set the egg, but it makes the egg taste [like] the vinegar, and I hate that.”

Instead, Beer recommended swirling the boiling water around in the pot to create a “vortex” and pouring the egg into the vortex.

She said poaching takes two to three minutes, depending on the size of the egg.

Beer seasoned the poached egg with salt and pepper upon serving. “I didn’t put salt in the water so it’s important to season with salt and pepper now.”

The TV personality, who has been sharing new videos on her social media pages every day since early April, said she would be committed to the video series for however long the COVID-19 pandemic keeps people at home.

“Whether it’s three months or six months, I will do it,” she told Broadsheet.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to get everyone cooking, don’t you think?”